[1/2]Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 27, 2023. Portal/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire License Rights
- US stocks rose sharply in late afternoon trading
- U.S. job growth was slower than expected in October
- Oil prices end lower
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Portal) – Global stock indexes rose sharply, the U.S. dollar fell to a six-week low and benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to a five-week low on Friday , after data showed U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in October.
The slowdown in job growth underscores the view that the Federal Reserve may be done raising interest rates.
U.S. two-year yields were also the lowest since early September after data showed U.S. job growth slowed in part as strikes by the United Auto Workers union against Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers hit payrolls in the manufacturing sector.
The data also showed that the increase in annual wages was the slowest in almost two and a half years, suggesting easing labor market conditions.
“The good news here is that the slowdown will likely continue to keep the Fed on the sidelines,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at the Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts.
“One of their main concerns was an overheating economy, particularly after last quarter’s GDP growth, and that suggests the problem is going away.”
The Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested to some investors that the Fed may be done raising rates. The Bank of England also left interest rates unchanged on Thursday.
But central bank officials stressed that more may need to be done to combat inflation.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to 4.527%, the lowest since September 29. Two-year Treasury yields hit 4.847%, the lowest since September 1.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s decision on Wednesday to issue less long-term debt than expected also fueled the rally in bonds, as did data on Thursday that suggested the U.S. economy may finally be cooling.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 307.85 points, or 0.91%, to 34,146.93, the S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 55.68 points, or 1.29%, to 4,373.46 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 225.03 points, up 1.69%, to 13,519.22.
Bucking the broader market’s trend, shares of Apple (AAPL.O) fell 0.9%, a day after the company reported quarterly results and warned of a dismal holiday quarter.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.17% and the MSCI global stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 1.44%.
The US dollar index fell to a six-week low after the jobs data. In afternoon trading, the dollar index fell 1.111% while the euro rose 1.07% to $1.0734.
The Japanese yen was up 0.72% against the greenback at 149.31 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2379, up 1.46% on the day.
In commodities, oil prices closed lower and the geopolitical risk premium diminished.
Brent crude futures settled at $84.89 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures fell $1.95 to $80.51.
Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,994.31 an ounce.
Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Harry Robertson in London; additional reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Miral Fahmy, Alison Williams, Mark Heinrich and Rod Nickel
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